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Hundreds of protesters marched on College Point, Queens, Saturday to demand an end to violence against gays - just a week and a half after a brutal assault on a neighborhood man.

"Nobody should have to worry about looking behind their backs," said Joseph Guarneri, 45, of Bayside, whose brother Jack Price was savagely beaten on Oct. 8. "Parents have to teach their kids. They learn hatred and all that stuff at home."

Price, 49, had gone out for a pack of cigarettes when two men stomped on him and left him with a broken jaw, a collapsed lung and shattered ribs. The assault was captured on video, and cops nabbed the suspects, Daniel Rodriguez, 21, and Daniel Aleman, 26, for the attack.

More than a dozen Rodriguez supporters, some holding signs saying "Free Danny," watched the rally from behind police barricades across the street.

"This whole rally is so pathetic," said Camelisse Kiana, 15, a friend of Rodriguez. "I don't think this is a hate crime because he doesn't have nothing against gay people."

Price told the Daily News Friday the two men peppered him with anti-gay slurs during the attack.

"What they did to that man was unacceptable," said Laura Semenia, 48, of College Point. "They beat him, walked away, came back and beat him some more. We can't tolerate any kind of crime in the community."

Some Rodriguez supporters blamed the media for blowing the assault out of proportion.

"It was an assault, but it wasn't a hate crime," said Marcel Gelmi, who had a "Free Danny Rodriguez" sticker on his shirt. "Danny had gay friends."Related Topics